Tool Usage (Site Survey Tool)
Overview
- Site Survey Tool is a GUI utility for measuring, interpolating, analyzing, and visualizing location-dependent signal quality metrics (RSSI, SNR, data rate) at an indoor/outdoor testing site. The program does not require a location-tracking mechanism such as a GPS module or an indoor location-tracking scheme. However, the tool requires the floor plan, or an aerial view, of the testing site, along with a pair of NRC7292 AP/STA modules both running under Raspberry Pi host mode.
Tool Version
v1.3
Setup
- The program consists of a PC GUI tool (SiteSurveyTool.exe), an AP host server script (ap_server.py) and a STA host server script (sta_server.py). The PC running the GUI utility (most likely a laptop) needs to be able to access the STA host over Ethernet.
The AP and STA must already be running under host mode before utilizing the PC program. Furthermore, on the AP side, the iperf3 (not iperf2) server and the AP server script must also be running. On the STA side, only the STA server script needs to be running.
The following example sequence illustrates the setup process for OPEN security mode operating under US country code:
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- AP Host Setup
Start the AP opertion by running “~/nrc_pkg/script/start.py 1 0 US”. (assuming that OPEN security mode with US country code is used)
Start the iperf3 server utility by running “iperf3 -s”.
Start the AP server script by navigating to the directory containing the script and running “python3 ap_server.py”. The AP server script needs to be copied to the AP host filesystem first.
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- STA Host Setup
Set up the Ethernet network configuration by modifying the related parameters in “~/nrc_pkg/script/conf/etc/CONFIG_IP”.
Start STA opertion by running “~/nrc_pkg/script/start.py 0 0 US”. (assuming that OPEN security mode with US country code is used)
Restart the Ethernet interface. (‘sudo ifconfig wlan0 down’, following by ‘sudo ifconfig wlan0 up’)
Start the STA server script by navigating to the directory containing the script and running “python3 sta_server.py”. The STA server script needs to be copied to the STA host filesystem first.
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- PC Setup
Configure the Ethernet network interface to access the STA host via Ethernet network.
Launch the the PC tool and select the floor plan image file.
Provide the IP/port of the STA server host and press START.
Parameters
If the AP HaLow IP is not equal to the default IP “192.168.200.1”, the corresponding parameter AP_IP in the STA server script needs to be modified. The AP_PORT/STA_PORT in the AP/STA server scripts are the corresponding AP/STA server ports (default: 12345).
The DOWNLINK parameter in the STA script can be used to toggle between downlink (True) operation and uplink (False) operation. The TCP parameter in the STA script is used to toggle between TCP transmission (True) and UDP transmission (False). The default operation is downlink/TCP.
Operation
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Specify the two endpoints of a directed line segment on the map by clicking the desired coordinates on the map panel. The start coordinate of the line segment is the current coordinate of the STA host. The end coordinate is the destination coordinate.
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Press SPACE to start logging process, and immediately, the STA host needs to start traveling towards the destination coordinate at a (near) constant velocity.
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As soon as reaching the destination coordinate, press SPACE to stop the logging process. A table listing the interpolated spatial signal quality data corresponding to the line segment will pop up. Press OK to add the recorded data, otherwise, press CANCEL to discard the data. The spatiotemporal interpolation is achieved by considering the timestamps at which the logging starts/ends and the interim timestamped signal quality data. Repeat the logging process until sufficient amount of data at the testing site is collected. The log file can be saved or loaded by accessing the LOG menu.
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Heatmap Data Visualization and Analysis
The program supports a heatmap data visualization/analysis functionality. After recording or loading pre-recorded data, access LOG -> VISUALIZE from the menu bar to generate a heatmap matrix.
Clicking any specific entry in the matrix will full-screen the clicked entry. Furthermore, clicking the color bar launches a range editing window.